University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
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Cruise passengers’ perception of port attributes and their influence on revisiting and recommending. Evidence from the Canary Islands
No full textThis article aims to explore whether various attributes related to the Canary Islands’ ports of call and their
differences from other ports of Europe and the world could influence a cruise passenger’s intention to revisit the
island or recommend Canary Islands cruises through word-of-mouth to their professional and social networks.
Information on cruise passengers’ perceptions was collected in each port of call via survey responses over several
cruise seasons.
The results indicate that a higher rating of the port services and infrastructure, organization and its information
services upon the arrival of cruise passengers, positively and significantly influences both the probability
of recommending a cruise to the Canary Islands and revisiting the destination in the future. These probabilities
also increase when the ports of the Canary Islands receive higher ratings than those in the rest of the world.
Enhancing these port-related attributes can increase the likelihood of cruise passengers returning, whether as
traditional tourists or as repeat passengers. Moreover, identifying these key attributes is essential for gaining
support from policymakers for designing more effective policies and conditions to attract the necessary
investment.171,14,1Q1Q2SSCI5,
A Corpus-Based Approach to Analysing Evaluative Adjectives in Student-Generated Tourism Texts
No full textThis study explores the potential of integrating corpus-based analysis of evaluative adjectives into foreign language
instruction. Research has indicated that exposure to authentic corpus data can reinforce language proficiency and
promote precise adjective usage across various communicative contexts. To investigate these claims, 60 first-year
translation and interpreting university students at a B2 proficiency level participated in the study. They were tasked
with selecting and applying adjectives to describe Gran Canaria, emphasizing lexical choices that capture the
island’s identity within a tourism-related context. Our research employed a mixed-methods design, combining
quantitative frequency analysis with qualitative assessments to reveal patterns in adjective usage and measure their
practical utility. The findings indicate that a corpus-driven approach significantly enhances learners’ awareness of
adjective classifications and their ability to use adjectives in nuanced ways across different registers.362611ESCI6,
Novel method to estimate the stiffness of compacted granular geomaterials
No full textTransport infrastructure involves the use of large volumes of compacted geomaterials, leading to significant economic and environmental impacts that need to be addressed in all stages of the project. A new laboratory procedure to estimate the stiffness of embankments, subgrades, granular bases and subbases is proposed. The utilization of well-established and simple equipment results in an easy-to-conduct and cost-effective method that combines the compaction procedure of a Modified Proctor test with the loading scheme of a repetitive static plate load test, adapted to the reduced geometry of this new ‘miniature plate load test’ (mPLT). This enables the estimation of the compaction characteristics and the vertical strain modulus in a single test. Subsequently, the elastic modulus needed for analytical design is derived through back-calculation using a numerical model. Soil specimens were tested using different gradations, compaction energies and moisture contents to generate various regression surfaces that correlate the variables of interest. Furthermore, the laboratory strain modulus obtained
from this test was compared with full-scale static plate load tests conducted in the field. The results show that this methodology could become a valuable reference test to aid in the design and quality control of compacted fills for civil infrastructures.151151,3294,9Q1Q1SCIE10,
Automated PPE compliance monitoring in industrial environments using deep learning-based detection and pose estimation
No full textThis paper presents an AI framework for automated detection of personal protective equipment (PPE) compliance in complex construction and industrial environments. Ensuring health and safety standards is essential for protecting workers engaged in construction, repair, or inspection activities. The framework leverages deep learning techniques for worker detection and pose estimation to enable accurate PPE identification under challenging conditions. The framework components are replaceable, and employ the InternImage-L detector for worker detection, ViTPose for pose estimation, and YOLOv7 for PPE recognition. A duplicate removal stage, combined with pose information, ensures PPE items are accurately assigned to individual workers. The approach addresses challenges like shadows, partial occlusions, or densely grouped workers. Evaluated on diverse datasets from real-world industrial settings, the framework achieves competitive precision and recall, particularly for critical PPE like helmets and vests, demonstrating robustness for safety monitoring and proactive risk management.2,6269,6Q1Q1SCIE11,
La elusión fiscal en la literatura contable. Un análisis bibliométrico internacional (2003-2024)
No full textChallenges and reforms in Spain’s health technology assessment system: analysis of criteria influencing medicines’ reimbursement decisions between 2019 and 2022 in Spain
No full textObjective
To analyse the criteria influencing medicines’ reimbursement decisions in the Spanish National Health Service and assess the extent to which these decisions have been supported by health technology assessment (HTA), considering the ongoing HTA reform.
Materials and methods
The sample includes all new medicines and new indications undergoing reimbursement between May 2019 and December 2022 in Spain. Criteria influencing the decision were derived from the Interministerial Pricing Committee for Medicines’ reports. These were matched with the HTA reports obtained from the Spanish Medicines Agency’s website. Spanish decisions are compared to those in France and England. The analyses include descriptive analysis, association statistical tests, sentiment text analysis, keyword extraction, decision analysis, and clustering.
Results
Out of 477 therapeutic indications, 253 could be matched to a HTA report. Positive recommendations (n = 110) were statistically significantly associated with severity and therapeutic value (including clinical and cost effectiveness) criteria, whereas negative recommendations (n = 143) were mostly associated with criteria based on budget impact and availability of a cheaper alternative option (p < 0.05). The innovation criterion was not used to support any decision. Only 9.49% of reimbursement reports mentioned the HTA in the conclusions, and 21.74% of the HTAs included keywords aligned with the specific decision-making criteria.
Conclusion
The criteria used to justify the reimbursement decisions of medicines in Spain do not align with the information included in the HTA. This discrepancy highlights the need for the ongoing HTA reform to develop an appraisal framework that aligns with the HTA assessment in a transparent, rigorous, and inclusive manner.111,083,1Q1Q1SSCI10,
Synthesis of activated carbon from sewage sludge using phosphoric acid as activating agent
No full textThis study addresses the management of sewage sludge (SS), a growing waste worldwide. In the case of the Canary Islands, Spain, 47.3% of the SS is disposed in landflls without further reuse. In this research, SS was used as a precursor to produce activated carbons (ACs), to remove pollutants from wastewater. The ACs were synthesized through chemical activation with phosphoric acid. The carbonization temperature and acid impregnation ratio were optimized, being 650 °C and 2 g H3PO4·g−1 precursor, respectively. The methylene blue (MB) number of the optimized AC (AC-650–2) was 140, and that of a
commercial AC used for comparison was 160. Additionally, magnetic activated carbons (MACs) were produced to facilitate material recovery and the regeneration of the adsorbent using an advanced oxidation technique (Fenton). AC-650–2 and MAC-3 adsorbed a maximum of 76.34 mg MB·g−1 and 56.76 mg MB·g−1, respectively, at 25 °C. The regeneration of the materials was investigated using conventional chemical methods and the Fenton reaction: NaOH washing (for AC-650–2 and MAC) and Fenton (for MAC) enabled recoveries higher than 50% after four cycles. The cost of producing AC-650–2 was estimated at 5.41 €·kg−1.211211,006Q1SCIE10,
New insights into the phylogeographic history of Dirofilaria immitis in the Canary Islands
No full textDirofilaria immitis, a nematode that causes heartworm disease, is transmitted by mosquito vectors such as Culex spp., Aedes spp., and Anopheles spp.. It is prevalent worldwide, with increasing cases in Europe, particularly due to factors like globalization, pet movement, and climate change. In Spain and Portugal, the disease has high incidence variability, with islands like Gran Canaria showing particularly high prevalence rates. Although control measures have reduced the impact, reservoirs of the disease persist, necessitating ongoing monitoring. Diagnostic techniques, including serology and molecular methods, are crucial for identifying infections in hosts and vectors. Despite advancements in molecular diagnostics, genetic markers need further optimization to improve the understanding of the disease’s impact and predict future transmission patterns. Previous studies on the genetic diversity of D. immitis have shown low variability, but more research is needed in hyperendemic areas like Gran Canaria to better understand the disease’s
evolution [1]. This study aims to analyze the genetic diversity in D. immitis from infected dogs in Gran Canaria, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Following primer optimization, we generated >100 new sequences and >40,000 bp from 21 worms present in different dogs across veterinary clinics. The genetic diversity and structure are low at the global level if we compare it with the results obtained for its sister species D. repens [2]. On the island of Gran Canaria, new minor haplotypes appear in the mitochondrial marker COI that seem to indicate that the disease originates there or comes from an introduction from the continent in historical times. Comparative studies with data from massive sequencing of endemic areas are needed to obtain a more robust view of their evolutionary history, structure and diversity at the genomic level. The data obtained here can help in the implementation of surveillance and control measures for this region.4848